ColdWatt Expands Line of Power Supplies

ColdWatt Inc. has introduced new versions of its energy-efficient power supplies for use in blade servers and high-density architectures. ColdWatt, a spinoff from Rockwell Scientific, says its power supplies are more efficient than competing products, allowing data center operators to cut costs by using less power and spending less on cooling. The company introduced its new products this week at the Intel Developer Forum in Taiwan.

The company says its new 1625W power supply is ideal for blade applications, and delivers 90 percent efficiency with a power density of less than 18 watts per cubic inch. It also introduced a 1U 750W AC-DC power subsystem is designed with a narrow form factor that can deliver 90 percent efficiency at less than 20 percent load. Improving the efficiency rate for power supplies and power distribution is the focus of several industry initiatives, including 80 PLUS and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

"At ColdWatt, we are manically focused on delivering products that enable cost-conscious OEMs to leapfrog their competition with cutting edge performance density and lower overall power consumption," said Joe Lamoreux, ColdWatt's CEO. "Our 1625W and 750W solutions have been designed with customer applications in mind to maximize efficiency across a wide load range and deliver the most useable power, resulting in lower total cost of ownership for IT equipment manufacturers."

ColdWatt is based in Austin, Texas and has received $31.5 million in venture funding from backers including Austin Ventures, Global Technology Investments, Matrix Partners, RRE Ventures and Rockwell. The company says its digital power conversion products generate 45 percent less heat, which results in 30 percent less overall server power consumption (once cooling costs are factored into the equation). ColdWatt says it accomplishes these gains through "proprietary magnetics technology to increase energy storage and digital control to achieve higher efficiency and flexibility." Headquartered in Austin, Texas, ColdWatt has technology centers in Dallas and Bangalore, India